Providentially Perfect

Dr. John Clayton's sermon on Luke 2:1-7 from our service on June 2, 2024, the sixth in his sermon series The Gospel of Luke.

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:1–7).[1]

The story is a familiar one: Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem where Jesus is born. Though familiar, it is glorious, for in it we read the second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God “was manifested in the flesh” (1 Tim. 3:16). He was not only born in humble conditions but humbled himself, as the apostle Paul describes it, “he [who] was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7). And such a glorious act of God’s love did not happen by accident but according to the providence of God. From imperial decree to the manger, whether we know it or not, we see God’s “almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness … ordering and governing [all things] … to his own holy ends.”[2] Consider what this says about God: His sovereign purpose extends from the greatest to the least detail of life.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism, helpfully defines God’s works of providence as “his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.”[3] Every moment of our existence is upheld not by our will or might but by the word of the Son of God’s power (Heb. 1:3). You 1and I are momentarily sustained according to his sovereign good pleasure. All things, “from the greatest even to the least,” are governed according to God’s “infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will, to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy.”[4] What you and I see as accidental, or chance, or coincidence is God’s “most wise and holy providence.”[5] Or, as Jesus said, refuting out fear, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt. 10:29-31).

A healthy understanding of the providence of God not only squelches our fears but also helps amidst trials and triumphs alike, and through both sorrows and success. And especially in those times when there seems no answer to the circumstantial when, where, how, and why of life, we learn to trust the Lord who indeed preservers and governs all things.

God’s Period

The timing of our passage is in the days of Caesar Augustus’ imperial decree, a required registration, or census, likely for the purpose of taxation, organized to assess on a family-by-family basis. Caesar Augustus in this case was the infamous Octavian, who defeated Antony and Cleopatra to cease control and assert himself as the first emperor of the Roman Empire. Despite his lust for power and a cult-like desire to be worshiped, his reign ushered in a time referred to by historians as the Pax Romana, or Roman peace, a golden age of relative peace and stability across the civilized “world,” lasting for almost 200 years. And it is in a small piece of this great empire that Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Joseph is a Davidic descendent of the tribe of Judah, but there is nothing regal about his daily life, a lowly carpenter of an obscure village. By governmental decree, not of the kingdom of Israel but Rome, he is required to leave his village and livelihood and travel to his ancestral home with his very pregnant wife. Mary, to whom the angel of Gabriel appeared with the message of God’s favor, carries in her womb the Son of God, Christ the Lord and near the end of her term. They are a poor couple living at a difficult time traveling under difficult circumstances to an unknown situation. Though our beautiful Christmas carols, may romanticize the story, this is a moment in time filled with difficulties.

Is this what it looks like to be “highly favored” by God? Surely, God could abate the taxation for King David’s descendant? Would God really orchestrate a required journey of a pregnant woman, carrying the Son of God, to another city without family and friends, without hospital or home, to deliver her child in a barn? And why this period of time? Why not after the invention of planes, trains, and automobiles? From our perspective, we might wonder if all things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28), surely God would secure adequate lodging and a birthing bed better than a manger?

Writing to the Galatians, the apostle Paul explains, “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5). The expression “fullness of time” means that God sent his Son at the providentially perfect moment in time. God had directed and prepared everything, that when “the end of the ages” had come (1 Cor. 10:11), God sent forth his Son. What from our perspective seems the wrong time, was the perfect time according to God’s sovereign plan.

And yet, how often do we grow frustrated at the circumstances of life, over which we have no control, and over which God has complete control? Luke provides no commentary on Caesar Augustus and mentions the Syrian governor, Quirinius, only to establish the period. Nothing is mentioned about Joseph or Mary’s opinion of the emperor, his dictatorship, his immorality, or his idolatry. Nothing is mentioned about how they feel about registration and taxation. Nothing is mentioned about what Mary endured, traveling at an advanced stage in her pregnancy. My point is not to emphasize what is not in this passage but what is: The point of the story is Jesus.

Is Jesus the point of your story? Or have you lost sight of the fact that Jesus is the point, not only of this story but our lives? Have you allowed the circumstances of your daily life, the various cares and concerns of this world, to distract you from what is most important? What characterizes your life? Is it Jesus or some worthless substitute. If Jesus is your Savior, Lord, and King, then he is the center of your story and should shine as brightly in your life as he does in Scripture.

God’s Place

Long before Joseph and Mary’s journey to Bethlehem, the prophet Micah prophesied,

            But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,

                        who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,

            from you shall come forth for me

                        one who is to be ruler in Israel,

            whose coming forth is from of old,

                        from ancient days (Mic. 5:2).

Bethlehem is, as Luke explains, “the city of David” and Ephrathah the regional district, providing the precise region and locale of the Messiah’s birth. John’s Gospel tells us that this was the interpretation of the Jewish scholars of Jesus day (Keep an eye on Bethlehem for the Messiah’s arrival!). And yet, they missed him. Why? First, Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, where we would assume Jesus would be born, but he wasn’t. Second, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but his parents fled to Egypt shortly after his birth, eventually returning to Nazareth in the region of Galilee, which later confused the Pharisees who argued, “Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee” (John 7:52). But Jesus was in fact born in Bethlehem, which fulfilled Micah’s prophesy, and God is God and will fulfill his prophecies and unfold his plan as he pleases.

But consider how God chose to unfold his plan in Bethlehem. Proverbs says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Prov. 21:1), which he did in the case of Caesar. Were it not for the decreed registration at the conclusion of Mary’s pregnancy, she would never have been in Bethlehem on the day of Jesus’ birth. Did the Roman emperor know that he was helping fulfill the prophecy of the coming of our Savior? Hardly. Did Caesar and Quirinius see themselves as instruments in the hand of the Lord, carrying out his sovereign plan of redemption? No way. Did they know that they were helping usher in the kingdom of heaven in the birth of the King of kings, who reigns supreme over all? No, but the Lord turned their hearts like “a stream of water” in “his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their actions.”[6]

As mysterious as this is, let us take great comfort in this truth, not fretting over our circumstances but trusting in God’s providential governing of the world. If “God, from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass,” then is there anything that should worry us today? Is there anything today or tomorrow that can happen outside of God’s sovereign preservation and governance? Is our era an exception in history? Shall we leave the providence of God to the pages of our Bibles without translating it to our day? There are many things we don’t know about the emperor’s decree, many things we don’t know about that trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, many things we don’t know about the unavailable lodging, many things we don’t know about the night of Jesus’ birth, but this we do know: Everything happened just as God ordained it.

What worries do you carry? Is not your worry in complete contradiction to this truth? In the sixteenth century, when the pope and emperor sought Martin Luther’s demise and death, Luther’s friend, Philip Melanchthon, worried constantly about Luther’s safety, to which Luther would say, “Cease, Philip, in trying to govern the world.” J.C. Ryle encourages us to “beware of giving way to over anxiety about the course of events around us, as if we knew better than the King of kings… ”[7] For, the world is already governed by One, and you are not him.

God’s Plan

It was God’s plan that Jesus be born of a woman, as prophesied in the serpent’s curse, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). It was God’s plan that Jesus be born a descendent of Abraham, through whom God promised to bless all the peoples of the earth (Gen. 12:3), that “whoever believes in [God’s only Son] should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). It was God’s plan that Jesus be born a child of Israel, whom God redeemed out of Egypt and to whom God gave his Law, that “righteousness would indeed be by the law [through him who fulfilled it] so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe (Gal. 3:21-22). It was God’s plan that Jesus be born a son of David, whom God chose and loved and promised, “your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:16). And so, the King of kings was born in the city of David, as the heir of the Davidic throne should be. And it was God’s plan that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5).

If you are a Christian today, it is not by accident. You and I are part of what God purposed from before time began. In the first chapter of Ephesians, the apostle Paul explains that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, and “in love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Eph. 1:4-5). Why did God do this? He did it “to the praise of his glorious grace” through the gospel of Jesus Christ “as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Eph. 1:6-10). And in the mystery of his sovereign will, he chose to do this “in the fullness of time” through a decree “from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered” (2:1). He chose to do this in sending Joseph “up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child” (2:4-6). He chose to do this through the son of Mary, the Son of God, who was “wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:1-7). This he chose to do that in Jesus’ righteous life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection “whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).

[2] “The Confession of Faith” 5.4, The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (Lawrenceville: PCA Christian Education and Publications, 2007), 22-23.

[3] “The Shorter Catechism” Q. 11, Ibid., 362-363.

[4] “The Confession of Faith” 5.1, Ibid., 19-21.

[5] Ibid., 20.

[6] “The Shorter Catechism” Q. 11, Ibid., 362-363.

[7] J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 39.